Oats or Sweet feed?

[Magnolia_dream]

My horses don't work much, lunging and driving a couple times a week. Should they have oats or sweet feed, they are a little underweight because they aven't been getting grass but other than that they are healthy do they need anything? What do you guys like better?

 

[Leeana]

Neither!

I dont feed straight Oats and sweet feed has not been in my barn for months now.

I would start him on a complete feed (Equine Jr or i think Dumor has a complete feed now). Grass shouldnt make a HUGE different in there weight. My mini's see grass once a week when i take them for a 5 or 10 minute walk through the yard. There on a drylot. They get hay twice a day and complete feed once

(i do hay AM, grain NOON, hay PM)

I just dont think that not having grass should really make a big difference in weight.

You could also try a suppliment. There are so many weight building suppliments out there that you can add to feeds. I have to use Nutra Glow on my 40'' gelding, Joey. He has 3 blocks of hay each day + Equine Adult and its hard to keep weight on him. I rescued him and he was skinny to the point you could count his ribs from across the room. I've tried all suppliments and Nutra Glow filled him out sooo much that it seemed like he improved 100% in a week or two. I'm a firm beleiver in Nutra Glow, you have to get it in Amish Country though. I get a bottle of it every 3 months down in Mt Hope when we go down there.

As far as im concerned, feeding straight oats wont come near to what you need and sweet feed is crap in my book.

If you really want to stick with Sweet Feed i would feed something with a higher protein percentage. I use to feed 10% or 11% but then agian all my horses were on suppliments at the same time.

Leeana H.

 

[Magnolia_dream]

i use a 12% sweet feed but only on exercise days!

 

[wade3504]

I'm not sure about oats or sweet feed, but I thought a complete feed was fed as it being complete and you didn't have to feed hay because of that. I read that it is used when hay is hard to find.

As far as only feeding on exercise days, this is just my opinion, but it would probably be better to give them the grain every day and not sut when they are exercised, unless they are exercised daily.

 

[Jacquee']

Personally, I don't like sweet feed. Sugar is not even good for people - why would we feed it to horses??

:

If I need to feed grain, I like plain rolled oats and plain rolled barley. If a horse is really underweight and needing some help (like, if I buy one and it is that way) I like to use Triple Crown because it has beet pulp and other stuff that really helps them to gain weight. For the most part there is no need to feed extra. Minis are really efficient at processing feed. (In fact, sometimes I suspect they are processing AIR!) They usually need to LOSE weight, not gain it. Nevertheless you sometimes get a horse that is so thin you are terrified it won't live. That has happened to me several times when I have bought a horse from out of state, and I simply feed the Triple Crown and plain rolled oats and barley PLUS all the grass hay they can eat, until they recover.

If a horse is in hard work, maybe a CDE horse, then you might need to supplement. But for the most part, a very simple diet is the best, in my opinion.

 

[Leeana]

I'm not sure about oats or sweet feed, but I thought a complete feed was fed as it being complete and you didn't have to feed hay because of that. I read that it is used when hay is hard to find.

I'm sure some people do that, but i would say most people who feed complete feeds feed hay along side of it as well. Complete feeds have everything in it, unlike sweet feed there getting all there minerals and vitamins plus more.

I dont see why you wouldnt grain every day? I dont think it would be to healthy to grain one day and then skip 2 or 3 days w/out grain and then grain them that day because there exersizing. I always thought horses needed to eat the same thing every day at as close to the same time as possible.

Sorry, just curious on this subject.

Leeana H.

 

[Jill]

I'm not a fan of sweet feeds anymore and my vet recommends a good quality complete feed pellet. We feed Purina Equine (complete pellet) and orchard grass hay. I have not had sweet feed here in a couple years.

 

[rabbitsfizz]

Whatever you feed it should be fed every day- there is no point at all in feeding whatever you feed just when you exercise, just as there is no point in "exercising" unless it is done regularly- otherwise it is not really exercise!!

I agree there is no reason for your horses to be underweight because they are not getting grass, and I am a little worried by the statement.

I never had grass in winter when I had the big horses, but I sure as heck did not have any underweight horses!!!

I think you need to be looking at your whole feed regime, not just the shortfeed part, and thinking about everything that you are currently feeding.

You need to get a good amount of hay/hay substitute into them to be taking the place of the grass that they are not getting.

:

 

[kaykay]

complete feeds can be fed with or without hay. you just adjust the amount you feed. I always feed it with hay as horses are happier when they have hay to munch. Or you could substitute grass.

Anyone on here who knows me knows how much i hate sweet feed

Especially young growing horses really need a good complete feed like purina equine jr. mine are fed this from birth to 2 years. Or a horse that needs weight of any age gets equine jr.

 

[Minimor]

There's absolutely nothing wrong with the good old basic diet--plain oats (rolled or whole, we've used both) hay and a mineral supplement. That's what we feed & what we have fed for years, and there's surely never been anything wrong with how our young stock has grown up....nor is there ever a problem with keeping weight on the mature horses. :lol:

There's nothing wrong with feeding pelleted feeds either, but horses don't need them.

 

[MeadowRidge Farm]

I am not a big fan of pelleted feeds. I have seen a mini choke on them, and that was all it took for me to not want to ever feed it. I have a good mix of just rolled oats, barley, very tiny amout of corn, and a very little mollasses mixed up at our feedmill, and have been feeding this type of mix for the past 40 years, never had any problems with weight, or a colicky horse, or choke. I do top dress it with a good supplement. My young ones do get a junior/youth feed, till they are about 2 yrs old, and then I slowly switch them over to the above also...never any problems. Corinne

 

[Magnolia_dream]

heres my mini

my shetland

had to throw in a cute pic!

these were taken last year so my mini isn't gangly anymore but given their height and weight what would be a good feed plan for them? To put on about 20 pounds or so.The shetland is just kind of an ornament he pretty much just lunges. The mini drives and jumps. What do you guys think would be the best feed for them and how much?

 

[Black Magic]

I am an oats fan..... I'll tell you why. I ride a black horse. Now give the girl sweet feed, and put her under saddle on a hot day, and she' laying down on me. Anyway a woman from a million dollar QH farm, that has been in the biz for 30 years and hasn't done badly told me, if you look back and read alot you will see that the old time horse breeders used oats! Another friend that is a equine nutritionist told me, that if you do your homework you will see that some horses are allergic to corn, (which is in sweet feed). SO we use a ration balancer.. called Grow N Win by Buckeye. The million dollar horse farm swears by it.

But let me give you an example of the economics of feed. We purchased a mare (six years old), from a well known mini farm. She was being fed 13 ounces of Sweet Feed (you'd know the checker board name if I mentioned it) twice a day. She's a large mare. I switched her to our Grow N Win (two parts oats and one part Grow N WIn), and fed her 12 ounces per feeding. She put on 14 pounds in about ten days. I had to cut her back and cut her back and cut her back. She is now maintaining weight, even though she's in training to drive, and only getting SEVEN (7) ounces twice a day. So we use almost half the amount of feed that she was getting.

Now Grow N Win costs $22.00s for a 50 lb bag.. So everyone is screaming... TOO EXPENSIVE. But they have a coupon on sample bags for $5.00s off. So we're down to $17.00s a bag, plus we get two bags of Oats... ($8.00s). So for $38.00s we have 150 lbs of feed! and that's without the coupon! Now figure, if we fed Sweet Feed, we'd be buying 300 lbs to feed the same horse, or spending $48.00s. So you see how cheap the good expensive feed really is? Does this make sense? I'm thinking about $8 bucks a bag for sweet feed. So do I win the money aspect???

So we go on, to how the feed determines the shape of the horse.

Well, look at my avatar and let me tell you, she's a Grow N Win poster child... I get good results out of Grow N WIn and Buckeye products. Progressive feeds were engineered by the same man, so they are awesome too, but very far for me to travel. But the key I think is.. that you need a ration balancer.... not a bunch of molasses, (which is a by product that my husband wouldn't even let the children have).

That's my take on the question....

God Bless,

Lynn W

 

[Leeana]

The only thing i have agianst oats is, does it have any nutritional value?

Do you guys feed oats straight or mix it in with the feed?

Leeana H.

 

[Jill]

Even though I do not use oats, some people I know who have *mighty* fabulous looking horses do use them. I guess with horses like with many things, there are several good ways to do things so it's just a matter of finding the best way for you / your horses.

 

[Reble]

Just sharing, interesting.

Found this write up! What’s best to feed your horse—oats, pellets, sweet feed?

http://www.admani.com/AllianceEquine/TechB...stCenturyII.htm

Also found this for minis

For general feeding recommendations we recommend:

For weanlings, prior to weaning: creep feed a ration with 15% protein. With a good legume hay 14-16% protein is OK, with poor quality legume hay increase the protein to 16-18%. Ensure the ration has 0.9% calcium and 0.8% phosphorus. Ground limestone or dicalcium phosphate are good sources for these minerals. Copper in the concentrate should be 30-50 ppm, and zinc should be approximately 80-120 ppm in the mix. After weaning, feeding recommendations are very similar to horses (as are the above recommendations) and protein levels do not need to be as high as mentioned above.

Selenium should be in the supplement as concentrations of selenium are very variable from area to area and can differ significantly between farms in the same locale. Selenium blood concentrations should be examined if it is suspected as a source of a problem. Deficiency of selenium can cause muscle stiffness, lameness, listlessness, muscle pain, and foals can die from respiratory failure.

 

[chandab]

The only thing i have agianst oats is, does it have any nutritional value?

Do you guys feed oats straight or mix it in with the feed?

Leeana H.

Yes, oats have nutritional value. Although, mainly fed as an energy source, oats do contain some protein, vitamins and minerals. Oats are generally higher in phosphorus than calcium; which is why they go well with alfalfa, as they help to balance the Ca ratio. [this is the really simple answer, as I don't want to drag out my nutrition book - here's a website on feeding oats: http://horsecare.stablemade.com/articles2/oats.htm ]

My horses don't really need oats, but I do add some to their diet of Progressive Nutrition ProAdvantage grass formula (ration balancer) and grass hay; the two yearlings and my two year old stallion get a little oats as a treat (1/4 cup per day), my 3 year old mare gets none (she can't have them, as I have to watch her carb intake).

I've tried a variety of feeds in the 20 years I've owned horses; sweet feeds, oats, 1/2-1/2 rolled oats and barley (really like this one - and could feed it with the Progressive if they needed the extra energy), complete pellets, alfalfa pellets, special commercial mixes for different age groups; and I've got to say that I'm really loving the way my horses look on the Progressive Nutrition grass balancer and grass hay. I've owned my senior half-Arab gelding for 20 years, so he's tried just about every feed out there depending on what I could get, what the boarding facility offered, etc; and he has looked the best and done the best on his current feed regime of Progressive grass balancer, BOSS, and grass hay or pasture. He's been on his current feed plan for about 6 months and hasn't looked this good in 10 years (he's 23 years old this year).

 

[Lisa-Ruff N Tuff Minis]

I personally dont feed sweet feed however if the reason you dont want to feed it is purely Molasses remember that even feeds like Jr and Sr have molasses in them in fact I believe it is the 3rd maybe the 5th ingredient so it is up there on the list.

I feed safechoice which also has a bit of molasses in it but it is the I think 10th or 12th ingredient so alot less then the Jr/Sr feeds.

There is no one answer when it comes to feeding so many correct ways